EC chooses transgender folk artiste Manjamma Jogati as poll icon for the community

Category : National Published on: March 29 2023

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For the first time in the Karnataka State, the Election Commission (EC) has chosen a transgender person, Manjamma Jogati, as a poll icon to motivate the community to get enrolled and come out to vote.
She is former chairperson of Karnataka Janapada Academy and a Padma Shri awardee.
Along with Jogti, several other individuals including cricketer Rahul Dravid and Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekhar Kambar have also been selected as election ambassadors.
According to data, transgender voters have increased from 4,552 in 2018 to 42,756 in 2023. While a mere 9.8% of 4,552 enrolled transgenders voted in the 2018 Assembly elections, 11.49% of the registered 4,839 transgenders turned up to vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 is an Indian law that seeks to protect the rights of transgender people and promote their welfare. The law was passed by the Indian parliament in November 2019 and came into effect on January 10, 2020.